● nature ● wildlife ● conservation ● sustainability ●

strategy

This summer, the Woodland Trust wants us to have fun with family and friends, while honouring trees for their ‘Invite a tree to tea’ event. I was very keen to get involved and decided to share my tree-love with my work colleagues as over 1,700 trees supplied by the Woodland Trust have been planted by mainly student volunteers at the University where I work over the last three years. Since 2014, these 1,700 trees have offset 12.5 tonnes of CO2 – the same produced by 81,315 miles driven by the average car!

Although it would have been great to work outdoors all day and have a proper party under a tree, this just wasn’t feasible, so I therefore decided to hold a ‘Tree Party’ CAKE SALE to raise vital funds for the charity’s work, helping plant native trees and protect precious woodland for people and wildlife.

I baked some black coffee and chocolate brownies as well as some leaf-shaped chocolate chip shortbread biscuits. Some of my colleagues also donated their homemade ‘treeats’ too, which was very much appreciated! As well as buying and eating cakes, people were also encouraged to make a ‘tree-based’ pledge to tell everyone how they plan to help or appreciate trees and woodland in the future. These pledges included printing less to save paper, going on more woodland walks and even making monthly donations to the Woodland Trust. In total, the cake sale made £27.50 – enough to plant nine trees, which I am very happy about!

“We all need trees. They are essential to life. They clean our air and cool our cities. They provide homes and food for wildlife. And they are the best playgrounds. But they are facing more threats than ever before and they need us to fight for them”.

Have you held a ‘Tree Party’ this summer? If not, there is still time – you can apply for your free fundraising picnic box and make a tree the guest of honour, or even just hold a cake sale like me! If you would like to find out what your fundraising could go towards, you can read about the Woodland Trust’s 10 year strategy here: Join us on the Journey to 2025.